Liverpool head coach Arne Slot was full of praise for one player in particular after Liverpool’s 1-0 win away at Sunderland: Ibrahima Konaté.
The defender was a mountain at the back, holding Brian Brobbery
and his constant attempts to bait something out of the backline. Here’s what Arne Slot had to say about the performance:
“I was pleased to see how we defended. Ibou played a great game against Brobbey who is always difficult to play against. Impressed but not surprised. He’s an example, almost of our season, he’s been so unlucky. He’s played games where he’s been so good for 89 minutes and then one moment ruins our game, his game. It’s not always about him but a few times that has happened and then everyone is focused on his mistake.”
“But footballers make mistakes and not always the ball goes in. I was just asked about the last 10 minutes and I said the good thing was we didn’t concede a chance. Against City we didn’t concede a chance after the first minute until the 84th minute, then we let one in. So it was good to hardly concede a chance and Ibou was a big part of that, together with Virgil. But I liked the mentality of the whole team.”
Captain Virgil van Dijk was also effusive in his praise, whilst also highlighting how difficult Sunderland have been to play at home with their unbeaten record heading into the game:
“I think they showed this season how difficult it is to beat them and a lot of credit to them – it is a hard-working team. It is good to come here and for us to win and keep the clean sheet. A good match for us.
“Ibou was outstanding, Macca in front. Everyone was putting a shift in. Proud of the guys as they worked so hard.”
The Reds will be in action this weekend, hosting Brighton in the 4th round of the FA Cup.
